We heard today that former former Nintendo President, Hiroshi Yamauchi passed away this morning aged 85 – according to a report in Nikkei. Hiroshi Yamauchi can be credited for the rise of the modern games industry following the Atari ‘crash’ of the 70’s – giving birth to the industry we know today, through the success of the NES.

Hiroshi Yamauchi took over Nintendo, the family firm, in 1949, and steered it from humble playing card manufacturer, to toy company and, in the late 60’s spotting the upward trend in electronics, began shaping Nintendo into a hugely successful videogames company that we know today.

His contribution to videogames can not be understated as, under his command, he saw Nintendo through four console generations and numerous handhelds. His uncompromising stance on innovation saw Nintendo maintaining it’s position as the world’s leading videogame company by revenue for decades – and making him the twelfth richest man in Japan.

A sad day for the industry indeed, as without him, so many of our most cherished gaming memories simply would not have existed.

Much respect to this man. To achieve what he did, it’s not something you can easily do in this day and age anymore. In my opinion, he has undoubtedly played his vital role in the most revolutionary moments of gaming history.

Hopefully not just his family, but every person out there that has ever picked up a video game can respect Hiroshi’s accomplishments. I just wish I were a little older to have appreciated more of the company that he helped evolve into the mega corporation it is today.